The attack came just after 2pm on Monday; two Soviet era Mig fighter jets swept in low from the west, then banked and made a run at the schoolhouse. The impact of the bombs was devastating on the two homes they struck. Fabricated concrete spilled across the street and a nine-year-old girl lay dismembered in the ruins.

The first stronghold established by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the war-torn city of Aleppo had been hit by regime jets, in an attack that failed to take out the rebel leadership but instead killed nine members of a family in a nearby house.

For the past week rebel fighters and leaders had been coming and going from the school, which they had commandeered in the city's north-east. They had brought prisoners there, built up a large arsenal of looted weapons on a lower floor and brazenly parked a tank and anti-aircraft gun outside.

The regime troops that were engaged in pitched battles with guerillas barely one kilometre away probably knew where the poorly-disguised base was. The Syrian jets overhead certainly did.

By nightfall only five bodies had been recovered. There was no hope for the other four, who rescuers were trying to dig out with their hands and basic tools.

The rebel unit's bid to win the hearts and minds of nearby residents has not gone well, not helped perhaps by the brazen way in which they made the nature of their stronghold so obvious. On Sunday the group's commander was finalising details of a flyer he had prepared, outlining what steps his men would take to end the sense of paralysis that cripples Aleppo. Less than 24 hours later a large unexploded bomb from one of the jets lay on the steps of the schoolhouse and all the men inside were packing to leave to set up a new base.

On nearby main roads mountains of household rubbish remains uncollected and order is yet to return to the city, more than a fortnight after the Free Syrian Army obtained a foothold.

The reach of the guerilla force has since extended to what they claim is more than 60% of the city. But the rebels seem to be driven by little more than enthusiasm. Planning to hold their gains in the face of an imminent regime counter-assault is haphazard at best. Strategy seems anchored more in hope than vision.

"What can we do when all these so-called officers run away to Turkey and drink beer in refugee camps," said Major Abu Firad, who defected to the rebels six weeks ago and has insisted on a new rank of corporal in the unit with which he fights in the suburb of Salahedine.

"Every decision on the ground is up to us," he said. "These officers who speak on the television from their comfortable camps over the border have no authority to speak for us. If they were real officers they would come back and fight."

Salahedine is at the vanguard of the Free Syrian Army's defences. And on Monday the rebels there were weathering assaults from recently arrived loyalist units.

"They have brought in tank units from the Golan Heights," said Major Abu Firad. "I know that because I was a tank commander and we can monitor their radio frequencies."

Other key Syrian military units are also thought to have arrived on the city's southern outskirts and started readying for battle. Regime jets have returned to the countryside north of Aleppo, where rebels ousted loyalist forces in 10 days of fighting from 19 July.

One Mig made at least eight bombing runs from 1am to 4am early on Monday over one of the towns below, causing panic among residents and resignation among others.

"They are trying to force the guys to come back to town to defend their families and leave Aleppo exposed," said a cleric, Sheikh Omar, in the town of al-Bab. "But this fight is something that can't be avoided."

Aleppo is proving to be harder going for regime forces than the capital Damascus, in which they were able to chase rebels from areas they had seized in July in less than 10 days.

Despite large numbers of captured weapons, a constant stream of deserters coming their way, and news of high profile political defections, much of the rebel force acknowledges that their campaign has a long way to go.

Rebels are continuing to reinforce positions in Aleppo. So too are loyalists. "Around 20,000 moved into Aleppo [on Sunday night] said Major Abu Firad. "They are planning to first take back this neighbourhood and then move into the rest of the city."

Shells thundered into Salahedine, a middle-class neighbourhood of apartment buildings, throughout Monday. Guerillas there claimed to have captured three locals – thought to be the only residents to have remained there – whom they accuse of spying for the regime.

As another rebel group left for the fight on Sunday night, a young student of Sharia law, who had joined the rebel ranks, urged the 30 men in front of him to treat prisoners well and not to harm civilians. "We must be very clear about this. God has told us to behave with honour as warriors."

The departing rebels in Aleppo had adopted different methods. Screams from some captives, particularly those thought to have been members of the loyalist Shabiha militia, have echoed throughout the night in recent days. Late on Monday one of the alleged spies was brought in, a terrified woman in her late 20s whose hair had been cut leaving unruly strips on an almost bald scalp.

The residents wandering the streets near the schoolhouse hours before breaking their fast didn't seem to mind that the rebels were leaving.